BEC: Benefits, flexibility, career prospects also shape retention

Barbados urgently needs a national vacancy survey to establish the scale of labour shortages, employers said on Monday, as construction and hospitality businesses struggle to fill jobs and a lack of comprehensive data hampers assessment of the problem.

The Barbados Employers Confederation (BEC) warned of significant skills shortages across industries, retention challenges, and mismatched skills, prompting the appeal for the survey.

BEC President Gail-Ann King told Barbados TODAY that a complex but real labour shortage requires government intervention, in collaboration with educational and training institutions and workers.